Democrats Tap Sen. John Kerry for Stadium Speech on Foreign Policy
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Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Democrats will make President Obama’s foreign policy achievements a major theme of the final night of their convention next Thursday at Bank of America Stadium, ABC News has learned.
Organizers announced Wednesday that Sen. John Kerry — chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a decorated combat vet– will deliver a televised address in primetime that night, preceding Vice President Joe Biden and Obama.
Kerry is expected to tout Obama’s record on ending the war in Iraq, setting a timetable for Afghanistan, and stepping up the targeting of al Qaeda leaders, including the killing of Osama bin Laden.
“Senator Kerry will speak to how the President has restored America’s leadership in the world, has taken the fight to our enemies, and has a plan to bring our troops home from Afghanistan just like he did from Iraq,” said an Obama campaign official on condition of anonymity.
“He will contrast the president’s strong leadership in this area with Mitt Romney, who has embraced the go-it-alone, reckless policies of the past that weakened America’s place in the world and made us less secure here at home,” the official said.
The Obama campaign believes that with the president getting some of his strongest polling numbers on foreign policy they can effectively woo independent voters by highlighting his record.
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